The Winter War
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Movie Reviews of The Winter War
Movie Review: Great story but not quite a masterpiece.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this DVD after stumbling across the glowing reviews of the movie. I'm not Finnish but my wife is of Finnish descent so I thought it would make a nice addition to our DVD collection.The DVD itself is pretty much barren of any extras. There are no trailers, no commentary, no different sound tracks...no anything but the movie itself and scene selections. The disc is only in Stereo, so if you're looking for Dolby Digital 5.1, you're out of luck with this release. Additionally, the film transfer is fairly grainy. Considering the movie only 13 years old, they could've done a better job.
On to to the movie itself - It's a classic example of a David and Goliath story. A handful of Finnish soldiers defend their country against a horde of tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands - they never really say) of Russian troops.
The disappointing thing about this movie is that the tacticts of how the Finnish defended against such incredible odds are never really shown. It was a simply a matter of holding position as long as possible against the advancing Russian soldiers. I would like to have seen more of what strategy was involved in holding off the Russians. Matter of fact, if I didn't know it was a true story I would have a hard time believing it. One thing to note, as others have noted - Talvisota is not for the squeamish. The depiction of what can happen to a human body during a war is, I would guess, fairly realistic and might even be a little disturbing to those with a weak stomach.
All-in-all, I give the movie 3 out of 5. It was good...but it wasn't great.
Movie Review: MOVIE = GREAT, DVD = HORRIBLE
Summary: 3 Stars
Winter War is a great movie, but a horrible DVD.The picture quality STINKS, and there are NO EXTRAS.
It is impossible to turn the sub-titles off either.
However, from a military perspective, the movie ROCKS!!
There is battle scene after battle scene, with all of it re-inacted with tremendous realism. Watching the combat take place in the cold Finnish landscape, you will feel transported in time to the Winter of 1939-40. You will know what the experience was of a Finn soldier fighting against the Soviet horde.
I am planning on buying and reading the non-fictional book, Talvisota, because the movie does not give much of a strategic view of the 120 day war. The movie is dedicated to the tactical side of the fighting, because that is what the typical Finn solider did (example - "this is your trench, there is the enemy, NONE SHALL PASS!") For overall descriptions of troop movements, and the reasons why the Soviet Army was turned away in stalemate at the end of the conflict, one needs to read a pure historical account.
PS If any small country in the World needs inspiration to fight off the military aggressions of a big bully, then this story is it!
Movie Review: Great combat scenes but some boring parts
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an okay movie. It tells the extremely dramatic story of Finnland's heroic resistance against the Soviet invasion of 1939 (this, by the way, is one of the things that the Russians would like you to forget about when they assert that they essentially won World War II on their own).Anyway, the combat scenes are impressive for a film made in 1989. However, unless you speak Finnish, you're likely to get bored and start pressing the fast forward buttton when Talvisota gives you a series of verbose scenes at the beginning that last almost a half hour. There are several shorter (mercifully) interruptions punctuating the combat.
I've often wondered why Hollywood has never made a film about the brave fight that the Finns put up against the Russians. It would seem to me that the story would have the same appeal that "Braveheart" did. But then, I'm not a Hollywood producer.
The bottom line: If you can't rent it, I'd recommend buying it used (like I did). It simply isn't worth 45 dollars brand new.
Movie Review: winter war
Summary: 3 Stars
saving private ryan it is not!
however this is a good one for war history buffs.
there is very little material about the russo finnish conflict in ww2.
a small side show in the largest conflict in history. this gets a spot in my collection based on that alone. worth a look.
Movie Review: Who are these guys?
Summary: 2 Stars
This movie is a terrible example of a war film. While it is very proud of its photage of soldiers exploding, getting incinerated, shot, etc., one never gets to know ANYONE in this movie! In Saving Private Ryan, the viewer had a much better chance of getting to know the soldiers, and it mattered more as they got killed. In the Winter War, there is so little characterization that the deaths mean nothing at all, and what little we see of the Finns at home makes it hard to like or sympathize with them. I myself found it difficult to even differentiate the different Finnish charachters except through facial hair! The Russian soldiers are also poorly portrayed, showing no fear, courage, or anything for that matter! They serve merely as cardboard cut-outs to get gunned down by the Finns. The ending is preposterous as well, after the endlessly dull bombardment of the handful of survivors, we suddenly are treated to the sight of thousands of cheering finnish soldiers. Where the heck were they? Hiding somewhere along with the casts' personalities? And for enthusiasts info, despite what other reviewers have written, the Manneheim line got overrun early in the war in most sectors of the front, and it was the tactic of motti that was more effective (and which the Russians later copied).